Countdown to the new year!

For the occasion, I have this

card to show:

The gold is such a pain to work 

with but it sure makes the results

stand out.  I was super pleased with

how the card looked when I finished.

One year ago tomorrow is the first time

I signed a song in church.  It was called

"This I believe" .  I'm not signing today,

but we ARE singing that song, so that's

kind of cool.  What a whirlwind this

year has been.  I've even attempted

part of the sermon already!  I am no

where near ready to actually do one,

but it was good practice.  There is

a program, class, not sure what you

call it, called CITI in May  in

Fort Wayne .  I think it stands for "church

interpreter training institute"  It's not

cheap, but I'm planning to go .  A few

months ago I would have told you no

way would I EVER go to something

like that.  That's where I've come

from to today.  So many changes

this year, as always happens in people's

lives, but on this day we become

 introspective and evaluate the good and

bad of the year.  There are things I could

have done much better.  Things I wish

I hadn't done at all.  But for the most

part I am happy with this past year

and that's saying quite a bit, because

most of my life that would not have

been my declaration at the end of

the year.  I hope everyone else

can say the same!

Happy New Years Eve!!

Dinos rule!

This is one pattern I didn't have,

so it must be relatively new.  I

could not pass it up-it's too cute!

Aren't they adorable?!

I decided not to go to coffee chat last

night.  My dad said coming out of Meijer 

in Angola he slid and south the weather

was supposed to be worse.  I don't

think it ended up to be anything big-

at least we didn't get any snow-but the

black ice concerns me.  I travel at 70

(well, about 72-73😁) on the highway and

if you hit a patch of black ice it's all over.

God saved me once this year, He might

not be so inclined to do it again....LOL😜

I'm just hoping the weather will be good

tomorrow for New Year's eve.  Another

year gone by.  How does that even happen?

Kind of like Camden, Michigan-

blink your eyes and miss it.  Oh, sorry,

did that sound unkind?  Didn't mean

it to be!  🤣 
 

Happy Saturday! 

Love birds

They aren't real lovebirds, of course.

Those are more orange and green

usually.  But these two birdies love

one another just as much!

I think maybe I should have done

something in the top corners.  Maybe

I will before I send it.  It just seems

a little bare at the top.

I woke up at 330 this morning and

could not go back to sleep so I finally

gave up and got up around 4 AM.

I'm going to be tired tonight.  Deaf

coffee chat is tonight and I'll have

to be driving in the dark (and possibly

snow) so maybe I'll try to take a nap

this afternoon.

B'Elanna was not amused when I woke

her up to take this picture!

Happy Friday!

Flamingo heart

Isn't this cute how their necks

form a heart?!

I got the heart punch at JoAnn's yesterday, 

having braved the cold for  just a bit.

It was half off, along with a couple other

things I got-like card stock.  Like I need 

more paper/card stock.  But it seems

I never have the colour I want when

I'm making a card.  I mean-not even a

shade of a certain colour.  Some  I use

more than others, too.  At half off

you can hardly go wrong.

I am  not even poking my  nose out

the door today except to take B'Elanna

out.  All I do is stand in the doorway

and hurry her along.  She likes to

sniff and take her time.  One of these

days her little paws are going to freeze

off.  Won't she look weird then?  I usually

wrap her in a blanket when we come in

and she wears a little coat.  In the house

I keep her in a little shirt or her pj's

since it's pretty chilly in  here.  I

haven't noticed Lili fluffing so she 

must be warm enough.  I'm sure

they are both warmer than me!

Happy Thursday!

Turtle love

There's only 4 more of these

animals in love, lol.

It is freezing outside and in.  I turned on

my oven but it doesn't seem to be helping

 much.  It should be against the law to be

so cold outside that your furnace can't

even  keep it warm.  I was thinking about

going to the post office and then skulking 

around JoAnn's for a bit but I think I'll

just stay under my blanket.  Someone

else is keeping warm too.

She stayed next to me under the blanket

for most of yesterday.  Here she is in

her pajamas:

She's looking like that because she

didn't want to stay still to have her 

picture taken!  🤣

Happy Wednesday!  Stay warm!

Bunnies in love

Christmas is over.  I wish I could

say the same about the cold weather.

It's so cold outside that the furnace

can't keep up.  I wondered why it

was so cold last night and it's

68 this morning.  Trust me, I keep

it warmer.  I pay the bills.  It's my

right to run it full blast at 100.

Ok, I only  keep it at 72, but still.

So, I am making some cute 

Valentine animals.  I got this

set ages ago and since then they have

actually made these same animals with

hearts in the pattern.  Well, I have patterns

with hearts on them already so I just 

added them in and I think it looks adorable.

I love how they look into each other's

eyes. I hope never to have that

look in my eye ever again.

This is what I won yesterday at the

left-right gift exchange.

I've never had it but it looks very rich.

That game was a blast.  It was the first

time I'd ever played it.  At a couple of

points the story was saying left and right

so quickly that I couldn't pass the gift

fast enough.  But everyone had a good 

time.  Coleen's mom got my gift and I 

think she liked it.  They are all really great

people and I appreciated their including

me in the holidays.

I'm having lunch with Dianne today,

doing a little shopping, then coming 

home, crawling in a blanket and hibernating.

I'm never getting a large dog (I'd love to

have a siberian husky) because you have

to walk them.  B'Elanna is out 3 minutes and 

I'm freezing and she's sniffing around to

see who has been in her yard.  I hate winter.

Happy Tuesday!

Happy Christmas!

Since all my Christmas projects

are done, sent out, given, etc.

I don't have anything Christmassy

to show.  Is that even a word?  I

know people use it.  However,

I do have a friend's birthday coming

soon, so here is the card I made for

that occasion:

I love the soft pastels of the flowers.

This is actually an old pattern, but

I haven't made it in many years.  I was

debating putting some bling in the middle

of the flowers, but I like how

the pattern has it . 

 

We got some significant snow yesterday

and coming back from church/lunch, the

highway was crawling.  But I made it home

OK. I did fall twice in her yard before 

I left!  I'm still getting used to how this car

handles in snow and I've never been the

best winter driver anyway.  I sure miss

my car.  I knew exactly what to expect.

 

Today I'll be going to my friend, Coleen's

parents' home and I'm looking forward to

it.  It will be more fun than sitting at

home which is what I would have done.

I have been incredibly blessed by

her friendship.  I've got some amazing

friends now, and I love my life.  I sometimes

think that if John hadn't died I wouldn't

have my friends, signing, all the other

things that make my life so fulfilled now.

It almost feels like I'm glad he's gone,

which of course, I'm not, but I guess it's

true that God can take something bad 

and make something good come of it.

 

Happy Christmas!

 

Christmas eve eve

What's so special about Christmas

eve eve?  Nothing.  It just sounded

like a wonky title.

Cockatoos are such amazing birds.

This depicts a sulfur crested cockatoo.

They are also wonderful dancers.  If

you ever get bored, look up Snowball

the dancing cockatoo.  He's even been

studied because of his amazing ability

to keep up with the beat of any song.

It will brighten your day.  Truly. 

Happy Saturday!

Gate fold birthday card

I closed this gate fold card with a ribbon

instead of a belly band and now I'm

wondering why I did that because I'm

not sure I like it.  On the other hand,

it gave me a brilliant idea to just make

a gate fold card and on the belly band

do stitching.  I wonder how that

would look?

This is the card closed

and without the ribbon.  To make the

effect I poked the holes right the first

time, then turned the paper over

and lined it up with the lines I drew

on the back and poked the holes again

so that they became mirror image.

This is the first time I've done this 

and I think it turned out pretty great!

I can't believe Christmas is in 3 days.

What I really can't believe, though, is

that we will soon be in another year.

Remember when everyone was so

excited to see  Y2K come in?

That was almost 18 years ago.  Think

about that!  Now do you feel old?  I

know I do!  I'd better get my shawl

and move to my rocking chair before

I get a chill.  I mean, there is an

arctic front coming through.

Happy Friday!!!

Think Spring!

Yesterday was pretty nice considering it

was December 19th.  I came across

a tulip image and thought it would

make a good Spring card-I can hope it 

comes soon, can't I?!

I don't know, the tulip looks kind of

like it's floating in mid air.  Maybe

I should have put something behind

it.  It looks a little weird.

I'm not feeling the best today and

didn't sleep well last night, so I will

just say

Happy Wednesday!

Birds, birds

Nope, not mine.  This is an African

grey parrot.  They are amazing 

talkers.  Larger parrots can actually

understand that they are looking at

themselves when you show them 

a mirror.  Babies are at least 18

months old before they can do that.

So, if someone calls you a bird

brain, be honoured.  They are

very intelligent animals.  Lili is

probably on the level of a 3 year

old human child.

This next picture I didn't make, my

father did.  It's for a Christmas gift

for a party I'm going to.

Isn't it gorgeous?  Much better in real

life, of course.  I love the barbed wire

around it frame and the frame is barn wood

that he probably tore off a barn himself.

He needs to stop doing things like that.

He has a younger friend that goes with

him, so I guess if he feels like he can do it,

more power to him.  That's what keeps us

young, I suppose.  Speaking of my parents,

my mother is home now, and settling in.

she's going to have to get used to having

no set schedule and no call button.

No one is around to talk to except my dad.

It will be an adjustment, but  I hope

it works for them.

B'Elanna got a new shirt.  I

couldn't resist.  She loves wearing

clothes.  She'll even sometimes raise

her paw to put it in the sleeve.  

Definitely no ugly sweaters for her!

Happy Tuesday!

A little boy named Ryland and a surprise!

The Texas church shooting last

month left one little 5 year old boy

without most of his family.  He doesn't

know this yet. He is still in the

 hospital and will likely spend the 

holidays there.  He loves

Christmas cards so they are asking that

people send him a card with a picture

of them, a pet or a $1.00 bill-

he is saving up to buy a go-Kart.

 The card I made him came together

so perfectly I wanted to cry!  I think

this is one of the best I've ever done.

The snowman is made with die cut

circles that my friend, Karen, made me

a while back.  I free cut the hat which

probably should have been a little

bigger, but I was happy to get something

that actually resembled a hat, LOL

This is the best part, though!  His name is

on a clear sheet and when he opens the 

card it will stand up.  I think you can

kind of see it in this picture.  I was so 

Thrilled with how it came out.

This is the envelope

Now for the surprise...Coleen and I

went to first service to practice.  We had

three speakers this week and when the 

third man went up she told me to interpret

for him.  We are all the way in back, by the

way, so no one can see us.  So I did, with

her help.  When the next service started

which is the one we sign, she asked me if

I was going to do it.  I said yes!  When he

was introduced we switched places.

I can only imagine what Pam was thinking

since she didn't know this was going to 

happen!  I think I did pretty good, but I

know one part I could have done differently

and I accidentally signed "parents" instead of

"man" .  But hey, you have to make allowances

for nerves!  When church was over Pam said

she wondered when I was going to get my 

feet wet!  I thought they were wet enough

with signing the songs.  On January 1st

it will be a year since I started doing that. 

I was pretty excited to have done that

little bit, though.  It was only about

ten minutes.  I also signed communion.

That's a little more nerve wracking

for me, but practice makes perfect-

or at least makes me better.

Happy Monday!

Last mini book

I finished this a couple days ago

but wasn't able to get it on the

blog.  The recipient, Judy, loved

it, so I was pretty happy about that.

I took pictures of the inserts this time.  I was really

pleased with how it came out.  I am pleased with

how all of them came out! 

No lunch with Pam today as she has her

family Christmas so I am going to come

home, curl up in a blanket, watch movies

and make some bracelets.  I'm going to

try to stay as warm as possible.  Maybe

B'Elanna will learn to use the toilet

so I don't have to take her out.

Well, I can hope!  :)

Happy Sunday!

I had an issue...

Apparently when Firefox did their

update I got caught in the middle

and couldn't launch Firefox because

it was still running, but I couldn't get

to it from my desktop to shut it down

-the chicken and the egg.  My sister

 talked me through uninstalling and 

reinstalling it and I'm up and 

running again.

So here is the little girl in pink!

Isn't she adorable?!

I also have the last mini album finished

and will be posting that tomorrow.  It

turned out really well.  I'm glad I'm done

making things for Christmas now, though.

My craft room is cleaned up and I'm

back to making some rubber band 

bracelets.

 

Tomorrow I'm signing "Joy to the world" 

and I think It's going to be an easy

song for me to sign.  I guess since it

is the last one I'll be doing the announcements,

too.  I don't know if there will be communion

or he will wait until next week to do it.

The more practice the better but I'm still

daunted by it.

 

I hear we will be in the 40's next week.

I am beside myself and will be singing

"Joy to the world" that day for sure!

 

Happy Saturday!

 

Ain't technology grand?

Yesterday I couldn't get into my

online banking so I called, got

my password changed and everything

 is set to go.  Right?  Wrong.

The dumb system won't let me

in again today.  Another call.

The lady yesterday wasn't very

friendly.  I hope the one I get

today is a little more personable.

I like how this card turned out but

I think I would have been better

off with a different coloured butterfly.

I don't think it shows up well.  A lot of

times it looks OK in person and then 

when I see it on the computer , not

so much.  This is one of those times.

But I do like the mesh behind the circle.

It's really cold this morning.  Is Summer

coming soon? No significant snow  yet,

but I hear the snow we were supposed

to get the other day moved on over to

Cleveland and they can have it.  You're

welcome, Karen!

Happy Wednesday!

Second mini book

This post has a lot of pictures, too,

but as before, I didn't photograph

the inserts in the pages.

The blue panel on the left folds

out and then slides out of the envelope 

with another quote on it.  

 

  

All three of these little envelopes

has a friendship quote inside.

I'm super pleased with how it came out. 

I thought we were going to get a ton

of snow last night, but I think it went

southwest of us.  They can keep it.

Robin got 11 inches last week!

I deactivated my account with pinterest

(I couldn't stay off it otherwise)

and sent them an explanation why. 

Pinterest doesn't seem to care what 

it's users want and I'm not the only

one to make that observation.  Deactivation

was the only way I could even voice

my complaint.  I won't be back.  Today

they flooded my page with all these 

posts of cross stitching.  I have NEVER

searched cross stitching.  Paper stitching

is very different so it doesn't fall into the

category of "inspired by my recent

activity".  Idiots.  I wonder  how many

others they will lose due to this new

way of setting up their pages.  I hope

they lose tons of people.

Happy Tuesday!